Managing anger

One of the hardest parts of healing from my trauma is managing the anger at all the bad things that had happened to me.  And one of the quickest ways I have learned to deal with it is a really simple tool.

Is it scrolling though my Instagram feed? NO

Is it eating something? NO

Is it distracting myself to stop thinking about it? NO

I just do one of two things or do both of them and the anger just disappears.  Or at least it melts away.

The first thing I do is remind myself that this emotion is only temporary.  It will eventually pass and then there will be another emotion that comes my way.

The second thing is I label the emotion as anger or whatever it is I am feeling in the moment.  Once I label the emotion, it is easier to deal with because I know what it is.  Because without knowing what I feel I can not distinguish if it is a threat or something I need to deal with or even just let the emotion pass by.

Once I have decided it is not a threat based on what the emotion is and I know that the emotion will pass, I can decide if I want to focus on the emotion I am feeling at the present time and deal with it or just let the emotion be there and go away on its own.

It is that simple really! No magic scripture or words to say, nothing to chant to make it go away, just basically acknowledging that I am having an emotion and that I can decide which way I want to deal with it.